Chapter 1199: Hannah's Breakdown
Manuel drove Hannah to the location Doyle had specified. A dilapidated house stood there, long abandoned. The Mount Northfield range was undeveloped, and the house seemed a makeshift hunter's shelter.
Hannah stood at the doorway. "Doyle!" she called.
Silence answered. Hannah glanced at Manuel, who nodded and quickly approached the door, leaning against the wall and gesturing for her to enter.
Hannah calmly opened the door. A man stood inside the dusty room, his back to her. The back view was familiar. But Hannah didn't focus on Doyle. She saw her bound and gagged parents. Panic filled their eyes.
"Dad! Mom!"
As Hannah moved toward them, Doyle's icy voice cut through the air. "I wouldn't go near them if I were you. Touching the explosives kills us all."
Hannah froze. A bomb lay between her parents, strapped to them.
"Doyle!" Hannah suppressed her rage. Manuel's earlier suggestion to kill Doyle had sparked a fleeting moment of mercy, but now, she yearned to shoot him herself.
"Angry?" Doyle turned, his face visible now. He seemed to assess her appearance, a stark contrast to Besse's. He chuckled lightly. "You look…different, Hannah. More beautiful than I imagined."
"Doyle…" Hannah stared, then asked, "How did you become…this?" He looked unlike the Doyle she knew, his features those of a typical Northfielder, devoid of any foreign aspects.
"How else could I infiltrate Northfield without Oscar noticing?" Doyle said, a cruel glint in his eyes. That's why Oscar hadn't found him.
"Satisfied with my appearance?" Doyle asked. "The surgeon who did your plastic surgery also did mine. He could make you look like another woman without damaging your bones; he could easily make you look like yourself again."
"Doyle, isn't all this absurd?" Hannah asked calmly.
"Absurd?" Doyle sneered. "When you abandoned me, did you ever think I would be absurd?" Hannah bit her lip.
"You should have considered the consequences," Doyle continued. "Oscar prevented my entry into Northfield, and my mother kept close watch. Fortunately, Besse helped me, covering for me. I underwent facial surgery right under my mother's nose and obtained Northfield residency." He smiled cruelly. "Didn't expect Besse to help me, did you? When a woman realizes a man doesn't love her, or even brings her disaster…she compromises."
Hannah glared. Doyle was crazier than she'd imagined.
"Aren't you going to ask about Besse?" Doyle raised an eyebrow.
"It's none of my concern."
"Hannah, I love your personality. You're gentle yet tough, without excessive sympathy. Your coldness and aloofness…irresistible."
"What do you want?"
Doyle approached. Manuel stepped in front of Hannah, blocking his way. A cold smile played on Doyle's lips.
"You brought Manuel instead of Oscar. Disobedient, Hannah."
"What are you trying to do?" Hannah's patience frayed. The bomb near her parents fueled her agitation. Her outward calm was a mask; she’d been suppressing her emotions since the first call, her fingers trembling, now shivering uncontrollably.
"I don't even know! Revenge? For heartlessly abandoning me!"
"How do you plan to retaliate?"
"What do you think?"
"I don't know! I don't know what insane plan you're concocting!" Hannah roared, finally breaking. She couldn't comprehend his descent into madness.
"Will you come back to Jolencami with me?" Doyle observed her breakdown, his voice impassive.
"I'll go back! Anywhere! I'll do anything! Just let my parents go!"
"Hannah," Manuel cautioned, noticing her emotional collapse. He'd never seen her so broken. He couldn't believe Doyle had pushed her to this point so quickly.
Manuel's voice brought Hannah back to herself. As long as they were in Northfield, there was hope. Yet the memory of her parents' deaths in her previous life threatened to overwhelm her. Could rebirth truly change anything? Was she doomed to lose them again?
She fought to regain control, reminding herself not to repeat past mistakes.
"Calmer now?" Doyle asked, watching her.
Hannah composed herself.
"You won't come back," Doyle stated confidently. "Why even ask?"
"Perhaps…a glimmer of hope." Doyle sneered. "Hannah, I'm here to make you regret it."
"I regret it," Hannah said, tears streaming down her face. "I shouldn't have treated you that way. I regret leaving you, jeopardizing my parents. Doyle, retaliate however you want. I'll accept anything, even death. Please, let my parents go! They are innocent!"